BA parent announces growth in premium travel
British Airways’ parent IAG saw an 8.4% increase in traffic last month compared with November 2012, but at the same time its capacity rose 9.5%, leading to a slight rise in the number of empty seats.
Most of the growth came from BA, whose revenue passenger kilometers was up 5.3% year on year. The airline’s capacity was up 6.5%.
Iberia saw a 14.8% drop in traffic but chopped capacity by 14.2%.
The group, which also acquired Spanish budget airline Vueling in April, saw a 6.3% increase in premium traffic, but the comparison with last year for the number of available seats sold on North America flights was affected by the impact in 2012 of Hurricane Sandy and the difference in timing of Thanksgiving.
The group said underlying market conditions remain unchanged from those described when it announced a profit for the third quarter to the end of September of £575 million.
At the time, chief executive Willie Walsh forecast an operating profit of around £620 million for 2013.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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